30 OUTLINES OF FORESTRY. 



" As the germ-cell develops in all the higher forms of life, it 

 multiplies, and various organs appear, peculiar to the form of 

 life from which the germ-cell was derived. All living bodies 

 contain organs, and living matter is therefore sometimes called 

 organic matter, to distinguish it from non-living or inorganic 

 matter. 



"Science has not yet disclosed the nature of the change 

 whereby non-living matter is converted into living protoplasm. 

 To produce living matter, the intervention of already living 

 matter is, so far as is known, absolutely necessary." 



Concerning the influence of climate on plant 

 growth, ]lisee Reclus, in his work, " The Ocean,"* 

 on page 361, says : 



" Each plant has its special domain, determined not only 

 by the nature of the soil, but also by the various conditions 

 of climate, temperature, light, moisture, the direction and 

 force of winds, and of oceanic currents. During the course 

 of ages the extent of this domain changes incessantly, accord- 

 ing to the modifications which are produced in the world of 

 air, and the limits of the region inhabited by the various 

 species are dovetailed into one another in the most compli- 

 cated manner. The flora indicates the climate ; but what is 

 the climate itself, in the apparently confused mixture of 

 phenomena which compose it ? The preponderating influence 



* Eeprinted, by permission, from " The Ocean, Atmosphere, 

 and Life," by ElisSe Eeclus. New York : Harper & Brothers, 

 Publishers, Franklin Square. 1874. Pp. 534. 



